Spring set for electromagnetic relays and similar connecting apparatus



A. O. JORGENSEN ETAL SPRING SET FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAYS AND Jan. 8, 1952 SIMILAR CONNECTING APPARATUS Filed July 51, 1948 a sj iwffi Fig I Fig.2

I. vI-

N mvaN'roRs LJ L-I ANDERs o. JORGENSEN RuDoLF WBLDEMAR INGRE vac, QM

Anonwzys 26 Fig. 6

Patented Jan. 8, 1952 SPRING SET FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAYS AND SIMILAR'CONNECTING APPARATUS Anders Ossian Jiirg' ensen, Traneberg, and Rudolf Waldemar Ingre, Hagersten, Sweden, assignors to Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson, Stockhelm, Sweden, a company of Sweden Application July 31, 1948, Serial No. 41,856 In Sweden July 14, 1947 4 Claims. (01. 200-166) The present invention relates to a contact spring set for electromagnetic relays and similar connecting apparatus. The object of the invention is to render a careful assembly of the separate springs in such spring sets possible by using a small number of simple and cheap details. According to the invention, this is achieved in that'the separate contact springs comprise ina set are provided with ears or tongues alongside the part arranged for fastening, said ears or tongues being arranged to be applied in holes in two insulated side plates surrounding and supporting the spring set. The invention will be more clearly described with reference to the accompanying drawing. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a spring set intended for an electromagnetic relay, Figs. 2 and 3 show the front part of the spring set in actuated and unactuated condition, Fig. 4 illustrates the fastening of the springs and Figs. 5 and 6 show a stationary and respectively a movable spring seen from above.

The spring set shown in Fig. 1 comprises for instance ten contact springs 10, which are supported by two side plates H and I2 of insulating material. Said side plates stretch from the back end of the springs to alongside the contact places. In the center part of each one of both side plates H, I 2 there are three rows, each with ten holes l3, l4 and I5, respectively, and at the rear edge a further row with ten slots 16. Along the front edge of the plate is a row of five teeth IT. For all these rows, the vertical division is the same. The contact springs are fastened in the holes l3, l4 and the slots IS in a manner, which will be described more closely with reference to Fig. 4. The stationary springs in a set, i. e. the springs which are not directly actuated by any lifting member, rest additionally in the holes 15. Said springs are for this reason provided with additional ears 25. Each one of the stationary springs have furthermore two smaller lateral wings 21 close to the contact places, which further wings are arranged to rest against the teeth I1 on the two plates II, [2. In the top and bottom edges of the plates H, [2 there are also holes I8, in which ears of a U-shaped clamp I9 are fastened. In said clamp there are two guide holes 2| for a lifting member 22 of insulation material, which is provided in its rear edge with a number of slots 23, spaced to loosely receive the ends of the movable springs in the set. Said lifting member 22 has at its lower part a shoulder 24, by means of which it can rest upon the lower part of the clamp 29. The movable springs have end lugs 26 adapted to cooperate with the shoulders of said slots 23, as appears in Figs. 2 and 3. Since the side plates ll, 12 determine the position both for the part of the spring which is intended for fastening, and for the supports or shoulders at the front ends of the spring, the position of the springs in the set will be carefully determined. Since furthermore the contact places of the spring lie close to the ears and lugs resting against or respectively actuated y said shoulders on the side plates, the springs will be relatively independent of deviations in the strength of the pre-bending.

In the. detail of the spring set according to Fig. 1 illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the upper four contact springs 31-34 are shown, of which two springs 32, 33 are movable and the other ones stationary. The movable springs rest with the ears 26 on their front ends against the lower shoulders in the slots 23 on the lifting member 22. In unoperated condition of the spring set, Fig. 2, the upper stationary spring 3| rests with its wings 21 against the upper surface of teeth 11 in the side plates II and [2, respectively. The lower stationary spring 34 rests with its contact point against the contact place on the lower movable spring 33, which has a somewhat greater pre-tension than the spring 34. When the lifting member 22 now is actuated in a usual manner by the armature of the relay and is lifted in the direction of the arrow, the springs will come to the position shown in Fig. 3. The spring 32 makes contact with the stationary spring 3| and has lifted said spring from its support. The contact between the springs 33, 34 has been broken. The spring 34 will thereby rest with its wings 21 against the under surface of teeth I! on the plates H, I2.

The stationary spring shown in Fig. 5 has four pairs of tongues or ears 52-55 directed to the sides, and two contact tongues in the front with contact points 59. The three pairs of ears 52-54 a well as the pair of ears 62-454 on the movable spring shown in Fig. 6 are meant to be fastened in the plates ll, l2 in the same way as shown for the ears 44 on spring 4| in Fig. 4. After said ears have been introduced in the corresponding holes in the plates ll, [2, the outer parts of the ears are staked against the outer sides of the plates by suitable means, whereby a satisfactory fastening is obtained. The fourth pair of ears in Fig. 5, which corresponds to the ears 45 and 25 in Fig. 4 and respectively Fig. 1, is meant as support in the front row of holes 15 in the plates, Fig. 1. Through said support, the contact vibratlons are also decreased. The wings 21 on the contact tongues are arranged as close as possible to the contact points 59 to eliminate possible unevennesses of the springs. It also appears from the spring in Fig. 6 that the ears 26 on the movable springs lie close to the contact places 19. Thus, no bending of the springs between the lugs 26, wings 21 and the contact places can take place. As appears from Figs. 5 and 6, the free front parts of the springs are not as wide as the parts meant for fastening. This results in the springs being free to move between two parallel and plane plates H, It.

The clamp l9 shown on the drawing, Fig. 1, can e. g. be made of metal and used for the fastening of the spring set to the relay body.

We claim:

l. A contact spring set for an electromagnetic relay comprising in combination, a plurality of contact groups each includingstationary and movable springs, cooperating contact areas on one end of each spring in a group, ears extending laterally from each edge of each spring remote fromthe said areas, a pair of unitary, fiat, in-

sulating side plates common to the spring set and perforated to receive the said ears and rigidly support the springs, said plates extending substantially to the contact areas and each having notches in the forwardedge providing integral supporting shoulders adjacent said areas and each stationary spring having wings extending at other places so that the said side plates may be flat without interfering with their movement.

3. The contact spring set as defined in claim 1 in which a U-shaped metal strap has parallel arms secured between said plates beyond the fastening areas of the springs and an end member enclosing the contact areas thereof, openings in said arms adjacent said end, an insulating strip slidable in said openings and having its rear edge slotted, and an end lug on each movable spring received in one of said slots to be operated by said strip.

4. The contact spring set as defined in claim 1 v in which each stationary spring has the contact laterally of said area for engagement with a shoulder of each plate to limit movement of the spring to one direction out of its plane.

2. The contact spring set as defined in claim 1 in which the contact springs are narrower between the last ear and the contact area than area forked by a longitudinal slot, a contact on each branch adjacent its lateral wing and a pair of spaced contacts on the contact area of each movable spring positioned to engage those on said branches.

ANDERS OSSIAN JoRGENsEN. RUDOLF INGRE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,282,687 Vigren et a1 May 12, 1942 2,472,709 Knapp June 7, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 28,690 Great Britain May 5, 1930 394,919 Great Britain July 6, 1933 401,087 Germany Aug. 26, 1924 

